Nintendo 3DS: One Year In

[A Link In Time]

Today is the first anniversary of the release of the Nintendo 3DS handheld gaming system in North America. The system's first anniversary in Japan occurred a month ago and in Europe two days ago with Australia's just around the corner.

When first announced at E3 2010, the Nitnendo 3DS certainly raised some eyebrows. Coming off of an already strong E3 presentation, Nintendo still had a whole new gaming system to unveil to the world. The title the company chose to manifest was Kid Icarus: Uprising. Ironically, the game was the last major release of the system's first calendar year. Hey, at least it was released within that time frame. At the same conference, Nintendo also promised loads of third party support with franchises like Assassin's Creed, Megaman, Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, DJ Hero, and more incoming. Unfortunately, not all of those dreams came true and upon release the system saw a darkened future as well as dampened prospects of success...

The 3DS launched to remarkable sales in all regions worldwide but especially parts of the Western hemisphere where it was the largest handheld entertainment launch in history. Things quickly went downhill. however. In Japan especially the system's sales declined severely. The over six year old PSP was outselling the 3DS on a weekly basis! Everything seemed to be over.

Then, Nintendo introduced a massive $80 price cut to the system-1/3 less than it originally cost! As compensation for gamers who had bought the system early, the company provided 20 free games-10 NES and 10 GBA. Everywhere on the Internet talks were rampant of a short term boost in sale but ultimate failure of the system. History repeats itself after all, doesn't it?

The 3DS broke from tradition and picked up steam. It quickly launched itself to the top of the Japanese and European sales charts and trailed just slightly behind the dominating 360 in North America. Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 were the behemoth titles behind the sudden gain in momentum. The steam continued into 2012 with titles like Resident Evil Revelations and Kid Icarus: Uprising and the 3DS managed to outsell its major competitor-the PS Vita in all major worldwide markets during its launch week.

But enough history. Let's hear from the gamers.

1. How satisfied are you with your Nintendo 3DS system? What improvements could be made to the existing hardware?

2. How often do you visit the eShop? How often do you purchase titles and do you more often go with Virtual Console classics or new games? Is the eShop the true next step in digital transaction Nintendo promised?

3. What is your favorite Nintendo 3DS game released thus far?

4. What 3DS games are you looking forward to?

I hope you enjoyed reading this thread as much as I did writing it.

 

[I Like Zelda]

I still don't have a 3DS, but im looking foward to getting one soon.
Nice writing also.

 

[unknown]

1: I am very satisfied with it, especially because it is the zelda one. I think one thing that could be improved on the hardware is probably making linking up in detail easier. Streetpass and spotpass were definitely a step in the right direction, but I think that instead of having complex friend codes, with the purchase of your system and set up of wireless communications, you could be prompted to enter a username and stuff and connect with friends easier and from further away.
2: I visit the eShop maybe once a month so far. I have a few titles that I mean to buy in VC, and I haven't even visited the new stuff. I don't really tend to look unless I hear about a title that I am interested in.
3: I don't really have a library of 3DS games yet, only Mario 3D land, Starfox64 and, of course OoT 3D. I have to give credit to all of them, as I enjoy them very much. I don't know where the award would go though. OoT maybe?
4: I am looking forward to getting Kid Icarus: Uprising, Mariokart 7, and mostly, the next zelda for 3DS. There are a few more that are escaping my mind right now though.

Great job writing, especially with your background incorporated into the "essay" shall we say :yes:

 

[Night Owl]

I bought mine the day it released. There was a brief period which I barely did any thing last summer on it. There was no one I could find over street pass during that time. But then fall and winter came and I was finally able to run in to people other than my siblings.
I saw the increase of popularity as more people had a 3ds, and the ambassador games re-sparked my interest in the system.
I've started to love my system again. Swapnote and having internet friends on the forum helped me regain interest.

I just wish they had an update to the AR games that came with the system.

I visit the eshop once a week on thursday to see what is new.

I have Pilotwings resort, OoT 3D, and Mario Kart 7, My youngest brother has Lego Starwars, and Super Mario 3d land. My still younger than me but older than the youngest brother has Street fighter 4, OoT 3D, Mario Kart 7, Need for speed, and Starfox 64 3D.
I have had the chance to play my brothers' games as well.

aside from Zelda, I am looking forward to Paper Mario, Luigi's Mansion, and possibly Kid Icarus or animal crossing.

 

[8bubbles8joe]

1. How satisfied are you with your Nintendo 3DS system? What improvements could be made to the existing hardware?

I couldn't be happier with the current status of my 3DS! Two circle pads are inevitably on the way, but right now, I absolutely love it.

2. How often do you visit the eShop? How often do you purchase titles and do you more often go with Virtual Console classics or new games? Is the eShop the true next step in digital transaction Nintendo promised?

I visit the eShop maybe once a month. I have yet to purchase anything from it, since I've been satisfied with my Ambassador Rewards at the moment, but I've had my eye on quite a few. I like the Virtual Console idea a lot, and the new games are great for indie and 3rd party developers. I don't think it's the next step in digital transaction, and I laugh at those who think physical discs will become obsolete.

3. What is your favorite Nintendo 3DS game released thus far?

Mario Kart 7

4. What 3DS games are you looking forward to?

Luigi's Mansion 2
Animal Crossing
Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle

 

[JuicieJ]

I love it. I've played the mess out of OoT 3D and Mario Kart 7, as well as some Spirit Tracks. I plan on getting StarFox 64 3D and Super Mario World 3D in the future, but they're not at the top of my list right now. I will get them, though.

 

[zack125]

1. How satisfied are you with your Nintendo 3DS system? What improvements could be made to the existing hardware?

I'm really enjoying it. There wouldn't be any changes I would make to it.

2. How often do you visit the eShop? How often do you purchase titles and do you more often go with Virtual Console classics or new games? Is the eShop the true next step in digital transaction Nintendo promised?

To be honest, I've visit it rarely and I've only made one purchase from eShop: Zelda: Link's Awakening.

3. What is your favorite Nintendo 3DS game released thus far?

Resident Evil: Revelations

4. What 3DS games are you looking forward to?

The games I'm looking for (for now) have already released, I just haven't picked them up yet. Those games are Kid Icarus, Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7 and, maybe Tales of the Abyss.

 

[Zanzibar]

1.
I like it, but they could've put a bit more money into the sucky cameras... I mean whats the point of having a 3d camera if the quality sucks...?

2.
Every week to see whats new. but they should have aLOT more free stuff. like an actual emailing app? a texting app? or even just more demos.

3.
The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

4.
Ummmm.... a real shooter in 3d? (CoD,The Conduit,007?)

 

[MW7]

1. Very satisfied. The only disappointment was the battery life, but I actually don't use the 3d that much so it's not a big deal.

2. Almost never. I've only gone on to download free Ambassador games.

3. My two favorites are Super Mario 3d Land and Ocarina of Time 3d. I've also played my free downloads of Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. tons of times.

4. The next Zelda game. This is one of the few upcoming games on my radar right now- I can't wait for it to be announced and learn more about it.

Also the long wait for big releases was no problem whatsoever for me because I actually never had a ds so I played catch up on the games I missed. I actually ordered Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks along with my 3ds. I also played through two Professor Layton games.

 

[Din Akera]

1. How satisfied are you with your Nintendo 3DS system? What improvements could be made to the existing hardware?

2. How often do you visit the eShop? How often do you purchase titles and do you more often go with Virtual Console classics or new games? Is the eShop the true next step in digital transaction Nintendo promised?

3. What is your favorite Nintendo 3DS game released thus far?

4. What 3DS games are you looking forward to?

1) On a scale of 1-5: 4. I enjoy carrying it around with me and getting streetpasses and the associated puzzle pieces heros and hats. I bought OoT 3D (of course) and enjoyed very much playing through and reminiscing as well as oggoling the new 3D graphics as well as the new map flip for MQ. However, that is where it sort of ends. I think many components and selling features of the 3DS are simply 'cool anomalies' and that is why we bought it. Now I want to say that I do believe I am slightly bias on this topic. I'm not as into handheld gaming, period, so I probably don't give the 3DS all the credit it is worth. Also, The 3D is awesome, but sometimes it does hurt your eyes and you have to turn it off. I think Nintendo was very smart to include the slider and the ability to turn it on and off. If this feature wasn't available I think more people would put it down or not pick it up due to tired or sore eyes. I'm not sure that hardware is the issue. I think that more titles, (some of the ones you mentioned in your post that weren't released) would improve my overall opinion of the system. I need to buy more games for it and perhaps then I would be more pleased.

2) I visit the eshop when i get a notification that I have a new free game available. Other than that, i do not look around or really shop. When I first got my 3DS I spent a good half hour looking browsing and purchased a couple things. I realize there is much more available now than a year ago and I probably need to go back and look, but I have little motivation to do so. Again, i don't believe that is fault by Nintendo, I think they have established a way for gamers to access what they are looking for and it is up to the gamer to decide if they want to do that or not. THe fault is mine in my lack of interest in sifting through piles of virtual and retro games that i don't remember, haven't heard of, or would prefer the hard copy of. That brings me to the next question. I think that virtual shopping has already picked up speed, but I think there will always be gamers that want the hardcopy to display on their shelves. I think iconic/larger titles should always be available to those types of gamers (aka me! lol) but the virtual shop continue to grow.

3) Ocarina of Time. However, I would like to get myself a copy of Kid Icarus

4) This is a harder question to answer, but an obvious one after form of my more cynical comments. 'okay, if you arn't satisfied, what do you want?' lol. True answer is I'm not really sure. What I do know, is that I would like more arcade style games as an option. These don't even have to be in hard copy. I'd like to have 'time killer' games for when I'm just waiting to start class or on the train. The extensive adventure titles are fun, but to sit down and play, I need the time. When I have the time, I'd prefer it on my TV where I can lazily look at the screen from my couch. Once again, this comment comes from my lack of motivation for handheld gaming.

Great thread.

 

[guapo2003]

I just got my 3DS back last Christmas, so I haven't had it that long, but I'm loving it. The only downside that I really have with it, is not so much a downside, but it could have been implemented better, and that's the whole Street Pass. Sure, it's great to have your 3DS on and walk by someone and get their Mii and everything, but from what I've noticed and others have as well, as it pretty much seems to be useless anywhere but Japan. I can't tell you how many thousands and thousands of people I've passed in a few months, but I've only gotten like 10 and I only got those because I went to a Final Fantasy concert, but outside that, I haven't ran into ONE person with Street Pass and I have my on everywhere I go. Again, I like the whole idea of it, but I think it could have been implemented better.

 

[raven80wolfx2]

1. I really enjoy my 3ds I bought one because I played ocarina time on my friends. Then after I bought one and showed it off my other friend bought one so street pass and stuff has been awesome for school. I don't like online shop I wish you could find stuff easyier then having to find it keep it the same and show off new releases.
2. I go to eshop all the time just never have credit card or card points to spend but I mite get some soon.
3. Kid Icarus is amazing I haven't taken it out of my 3ds sense I got it and I have put 42 hours in that game. I love that feature to see how many hours you put in to game like kid Icarus classic I beat it and put 4hours :57 mins
4. I can not wait for kingdom hearts for I hope it as good as birth by sleep don't get me wrong the ds ones were great but still I think game is just better on psp not graphic just extra stuff you can do and limit breaks ability's.

 

[misskitten]

1. How satisfied are you with your Nintendo 3DS system? What improvements could be made to the existing hardware?
I'm very happy, this is my first handheld console and I love having it with me everywhere I go If I was to say anything could improve it would be to cross 3DS with the XL one and get a 3DS with an extra large screen, lol, but other than that I can't think of anything, lol

2. How often do you visit the eShop? How often do you purchase titles and do you more often go with Virtual Console classics or new games? Is the eShop the true next step in digital transaction Nintendo promised?
I visit it from time to time, I have purchased a couple of titles and I'm really hoping more of the old titles will be made available for purchase there. I would love it if the SNES games could be made available there, like Super Mario, Donkey Kong 1,2,3, etc. And of course more of the old NES games. Not all of them have graphic quality that fits current TV's and would probably do better as handheld (I'm thinking of YOU, Donkey Kong...)

3. What is your favorite Nintendo 3DS game released thus far?
I only have Occarina of Time 3DS, so that's easy, lol.

4. What 3DS games are you looking forward to?
I'm crossing my fingers for a 3D MM, other than that I'm looking forward to getting the Mario 3DS when it gets a little bit cheaper, lol

 

[Nyan Cat]

1. How satisfied are you with your Nintendo 3DS system? What improvements could be made to the existing hardware?

I'm very satisfied, athough I wish you could get more than 10 coins a day. I walk alot and it sucks that I could walk 8,000 (or more)steps in a day and get only 10 coins.

2. How often do you visit the eShop? How often do you purchase titles and do you more often go with Virtual Console classics or new games? Is the eShop the true next step in digital transaction Nintendo promised?

I visit the e-shop 1 every week, looking for anything cool.

3. What is your favorite Nintendo 3DS game released thus far?

Mario Kart. As much as I love Zelda, I play Mario Kart multiplayer a lot.

4. What 3DS games are you looking forward to?

Zero Escape: Volume 2 <3